Look to the road now and it seems that a quarter of all driving machines are modeled after my Lexus: sedan sized Sports Utility Vehicles built for convenience and comfort rather than off-road activities. Why don’t people observe the importance of my superannuated car? The innovativeness and cutting edge uniqueness? Why isn’t the RX 300 considered a sure bet en route to Classic Cardom?

Was the ’64 Mustang more revolutionary than my RX300? Did it lead an innovation revolution of this caliber? Has any car since the Model-T been such a forerunner? Millions of passenger car based all-wheel drive vehicles have followed in the template tracks of my luxurious Lexus.

The first-generation RX as a classic car is a stretch in the traditional sense, and I suspect Sobieski is fully aware of this fact. Still, I can only think of two more influential vehicles over the past 20 years — the Toyota Prius and the Google self-driving car (which, ironically, are heavily modified Lexus RX & Toyota Prius models).